5 of The Easiest Oven Dinners On The Planet

There is a common misconception that making a home-cooked meal is difficult and time-consuming. Yes, the process of preparing a dish can be difficult, but cooking it need not be. The oven does most of the work for us, meaning we only need to put in the ingredients and turn on the timer.

And if you’re pressed for time (or just feeling lazy), there are lots of delicious oven dinners that require no preparation, such as roasting vegetables, baking potatoes, and roasting meats.

Let’s look at some simple oven dinners that require minimal effort.

• Roast chicken with garlic mayonnaise

Ingredients

Whole free-range chicken

1 large brown onion, peeled and sliced into wedges

12 garlic cloves, peeled left whole

1 lemon, halved

8 chat potatoes, parboiled and chopped in half.

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 bunch of thyme (for cooking and garnish)

12 sage leaves

500ml Massel Chicken Style Liquid Stock or water

12 cherry tomatoes

50g butter softened or ghee

Procedure

• Precook your chat potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for approx 15 minutes, drain and cut in half when cooled. Set aside.

• Preheat oven to 180C. Rinse out the cavity with cold water and then pat dry skin with a paper towel. In a large (30cmx35cm) baking tray put chicken, breast side up.

• Around the chicken place par-cooked chats potatoes, sliced onion, peel whole garlic cloves, and half the lemon. In the cavity of the chicken, get half the lemon and lightly squeeze then place the piece of lemon inside the cavity. Cut in half again and in the baking tray.

• Pour over olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Add half the thyme and all the sage leaves. Add salt and pepper and pour the stock into the base of the tray.

• Cover with baking paper and then foil. Tightly press the sides of the foil around the baking dish and put it into the oven for 60 minutes.

• After 60 minutes, take off foil and baking paper and discard, add tomatoes, then cook for another 20 minutes until the chicken is golden brown. Rest for 15 minutes, take off cooked thyme leaves. Add butter on top of the skin to meltdown (optional) the chicken, add the fresh thyme leaves and extra sea salt and olive oil to serve.

• Creamy Diane potato bake

Ingredients

1.5kg potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 cups milk

45g butter

1 brown onion, sliced

200g button mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

300ml cream

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Ingredients

1.5kg potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 cups milk

45g butter

1 brown onion, sliced

200g button mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

300ml cream

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 180C. Place potatoes in a large shallow saucepan with the milk. Season well with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and cook for 6 minutes until potatoes are tender but not falling apart. Strain into a colander over a bowl and reserve the milk.

• In a large frypan, melt 30g butter. Add onions and mushrooms and cook for 6 minutes until soft. Season well with salt and pepper. Remove to a bowl. Add remaining butter to frypan and cook garlic over a gentle heat for 1 minute. Add Worcestershire sauce and allow to bubble up and reduce for 1 minute. Pour in cream and 1/2 cup of reserved milk. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard.

• Layer a third of the potatoes in the base of a large ovenproof dish. Spoon over half the mushroom mixture and pour over a third of the cream mixture. Repeat with a third of the potatoes, the remaining mushroom mixture, and another third of the cream mixture. Finish with a final layer of potatoes then pours over the remaining cream mixture.

• Bake for 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.

• Roast Chicken with Peruvian Passion Fruit Sauce

Ingredients

BRINE

1.5 L water

90g (5 Tbsp) un-iodized table salt

1 large (1.8kg) free-range chicken

MARINADE

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp ground pepper

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp dry oregano

2 tsp sugar

SAUCE

4 passionfruit

1 large yellow capsicum

1 or 2 long hot red chillis

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

¼ bunch coriander (roots and bottom half of stems)

1 extra passionfruit, to serve

Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure 

• For the brine, place salt and water in a pot on high heat and stir until the salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Using a sharp serrated knife or kitchen scissors, cut the chicken through the backbone and press it down flat in a deep baking dish, skin side down. Pour over the cold brine until the chicken is mostly covered, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.

• Pre-heat the oven to 160C.

• For the marinade, mix olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, paprika, pepper, and cumin until combined.

• Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse under cold water, and pat dry. Discard brine.

• Gently pair the skin away from the breasts and place 1/3 of the marinade under the skin. Place chicken skin side up in a baking dish and coat the skin with remaining marinade.

• Cover loosely with foil and roast in a low oven (170C) for 30 minutes, then remove foil and turn up the heat to 230 C and roast for a further 15 minutes, or until the skin is golden and crunchy.

• To start the sauce, we first make passion fruit juice. Halve the 4 passion fruit and scoop out the seeds and flesh into a measuring jug, then add just enough water to make 150ml. Pour into a blender and using a quick pulse, mix for a few seconds, being careful not to over blend as the seeds will be hard to extract. Pass through a fine plastic sieve (metal can sometimes react with the acidity of the passionfruit) using the back of a spoon to push the juice through. Discard seeds and reserve juice.

• To complete the sauce, place capsicums and chilies on a lined baking tray and into the 230°c oven to blacken. Alternatively, you can blacken the skins over a gas flame. Remove and place in a bowl and wrap tightly with cling film to steam. Once steamed peel off the skin and discard along with the seeds. Place the capsicum and chili flesh in a blender, along with passionfruit juice and olive oil. Puree until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the blender and stir in very finely chopped coriander roots and stems, and season. Place the sauce in a serving bowl and top with the flesh and seeds of the 1 extra passion fruit.

• To serve, sprinkle coriander leaves over the roast chicken and serve the sauce alongside.

• Margarita Chicken Wings with Lime Salt

Ingredients

1 Litre Campbell’s Real Stock chicken

1/2 cup lime juice

40 g butter melted

1/2 cup tequila

3 garlic cloves crushed

2 1/2 kg chicken nibbles

2 tbs honey

2 tbs fresh coriander chopped

2 tbs sea salt flakes

2 tsp lime rind grated

1 long green chili thinly sliced

1 handful coriander leaves *to serve *extra

1 pinch salt and pepper *to taste

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan-forced.

• Combine stock, 1/3 cup lime juice, butter, tequila, and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken. Stir to combine. Transfer to a large roasting pan. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, or until chicken is browned and cooked through.

• Using tongs, transfer chicken to a large bowl. Cover to keep warm. Transfer cooking liquid to a large frying pan. Add honey. Cook over medium-high heat for 12 minutes or until sauce bubbles and thickens. Stir in coriander and remaining lime juice. Add sauce to wings. Toss to coat.

• Meanwhile, combine salt and lime rind.

• Place chicken on a platter. Sprinkle it with chili and extra coriander. Serve with lime salt.

• Spicy Miso Chicken Wings with Japanese Potato Salad

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 tbsp white miso paste

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1 tbsp shichimi togarashi plus extra to serve (see notes)

1/2 cup plain flour

1kg chicken wing nibbles

Rice bran oil cooking spray

Fresh mint sprigs to serve

JAPANESE POTATO SALAD

800g red washed potatoes roughly chopped

4 radishes thinly sliced into rounds

2 tsp caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup Japanese mayonnaise plus extra to serve

2 Lebanese cucumbers peeled into ribbons

200g packet frozen shelled edamame thawed

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan-forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

• Whisk eggs, miso paste, and soy sauce in a large bowl until well combined.

• Combine breadcrumbs and shichimi togarashi in a bowl. Place flour in another bowl. Working one at a time, toss chicken pieces in flour. Dip in egg mixture, then coat in breadcrumb mixture. Place on a prepared tray. Spray chicken well with oil. Bake chicken for 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

To make the Japanese Potato Salad;

• Place potato in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return to the pan. Roughly crushed. Cool for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine radish, sugar, salt, and half the vinegar in a bowl. Set aside for 15 minutes. Add mayonnaise and remaining vinegar to the potato. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until combined. Drain radish. Place potato salad, cucumber, edamame, and radish in a serving bowl. Sprinkle it with extra shichimi togarashi.

• Serve chicken with potato salad, mint sprigs, and extra mayonnaise.

NB: Shichimi togarashi is a spice blend

All of these super-fast oven dinners are healthy for you, delicious, and ultra-affordable. If you can get a meal on the table quickly, chances are you will have time to clean up before heading to bed to retire for the night.